Hubballi: Members of the BJP and Congress in the Hubballi-Dharwad Municipal Corporation heaved a sigh of relief after the government transferred
HDMC commissioner Siddalingayya
Hiremath to the public instruction department as additional commissioner, Dharwad.
Shakeel Ahmed, commissioner, Belagavi Urban Development Authority, replaces him and he’s expected to take charge on Thursday.
Hiremath assumed office as HDMC commissioner in 2015. His work didn’t go down well with the BJP, which rules the HDMC, and some Congress members as they accused him of not releasing funds adequately for ward development.
Hiremath invited the wrath of corporators for not sanctioning bills of contractors and reportedly not co-operating with them to execute work. Hiremath also landed in a controversy after he filed a complaint against advocate Nargund, accusing him of trespassing his official residence. Advocates boycotted court proceedings in Hubballi and Dharwad seeking his
transfer. Finally, Hiremath had to apologise to the advocate in the presence of all members of the bar association to end the controversy. However, he’s also credited with taking up several developmental work in the twin cities.
Corporators of all parties were united in their demand for his transfer. Some Congress corporators also sent a letter to the chief minister seeking his transfer as they alleged he wasn’t sanctioning funds for ward development. BJP staged a protest seeking his transfer in November, 2017 for not demolishing an illegal construction, and not sanctioning bills of contractors.
The government transferred Hiremath to Kalburgi as additional commissioner, public instruction in December, 2017, but revoked it following alleged interference by district in-charge minister Vinay Kulkarni.
A HDMC staffer said: “The commissioner wouldn’t yield to pressure from corporators. He wouldn’t approve a single work unless he was happy with the contractor’s work. His disciplined nature antagonized corporators and contractors. He also curbed contractors misusing funds by doing low-quality work.”
Mayor Sudhir Saraf said: “Congress and BJP members joined hands, seeking his transfer. We don’t have a personal grudge, but we only demanded that he be polite with corporators and sanction funds for ward development.”
